{"product_id":"hafni-says-9780811239493","title":"Hafni Says","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003eHafni says: I don't want to be me. I want to change who I am. I don't know how to change who I am.\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003eHafni has come to the end of her marriage. From a rest stop she phones the novel's narrator--a main character from Helle Helle's previous novel \u003cem\u003ethey\u003c\/em\u003e--but it's she who does all the talking. She's been celebrating impending divorce with a \"sm rrebr d tour\" of the southern Danish countryside, where she samples Danish classics, chiefly open-faced sandwiches and afternoon tea. A trip that was meant to take a week digresses once, then twice, until it ends up taking Hafni an entire month. As told in tightly controlled, splintered mini chapters, the book incarnates how Hafni herself digresses, and dwells. She seems to view her past as one long series of accidents and mistakes, the accumulation of which somehow became the life she was living, a life that she now longs to cast off so she can start anew. Nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize, \u003cem\u003eHafni Says\u003c\/em\u003e is brought into English in a magnificent translation by Martin Aitken. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Helle Helle\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e New Directions Publishing Corporation\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/15\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 144\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.40lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.90h x 5.10w x 0.50d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780811239493\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHelle, Helle:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eHelle Helle\u003c\/strong\u003e was born in Denmark in 1965. She is a graduate of the Danish Academy of Creative Writing and the author of a number of novels, as well as two collections of short stories. She has received numerous awards, including The Critics' Prize and The Golden Laurel. She is one of Scandinavia's foremost writers, with a career spanning three dacades, from her debut \u003cem\u003eExample of Life\u003c\/em\u003e (1993) to her most recent novel \u003cem\u003eHey Hafni\u003c\/em\u003e, forthcoming from New Directions in the fall of 2027. Her books have been translated into twenty-four languages.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAitken, Martin:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eMartin Aitken\u003c\/strong\u003e has translated numerous novels from Danish and Norwegian, including works by Karl Ove Knausgaard, Peter Høeg, Ida Jessen, and Kim Leine. He won the PEN Translation Prize for his translation of Hanne Ørstavik's \u003cem\u003eLove\u003c\/em\u003e.","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Helle Helle \/ Paperback \/ English","offer_id":48944000893085,"sku":"9780811239493","price":20.34,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/files\/img_f855fc59-561e-4342-bdea-96dfb4a66353.jpg?v=1790153288","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/hafni-says-9780811239493","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}